Rent The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1961)

3.8 of 5 from 88 ratings
1h 21min
Rent The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (aka The Outrageous Baron Munchausen / Baron Prásil) Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
Visionary Czech director Karel Zeman is treasured by generations of filmmakers worldwide, from Terry Gilliam and Jan Svankmajer to Tim Burton and Wes Anderson. His pioneering combination of live-action and animation makes him, alongside his Western counterpart Ray Harryhausen, one of the great masters of 20th Century fantasy cinema. Zeman's wildly inventive and comic take on the surreal adventures of Baron Munchausen explodes on to the screen in a riot of colour, visual wit and poetic verve. A celebration of human imagination, this film is widely recognised as one of cinema's timeless classics.
Actors:
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Directors:
Writers:
Jirí Brdecka, Gottfried August Bürger, Josef Kainar, Rudolph Erich Raspe, Karel Zeman
Aka:
The Outrageous Baron Munchausen / Baron Prásil
Studio:
SECOND RUN DVD
Genres:
Action & Adventure, Children & Family, Classics, Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Collections:
All the Twos: 1902-62, A Brief History of Film..., Top 10 Czech Films, Top Films
Countries:
Czechoslovakia
BBFC:
Release Date:
24/07/2017
Run Time:
81 minutes
Languages:
Czech Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Subtitles:
English
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.37:1
Colour:
Colour
Bonus:
  • New, exclusive and expansive filmed appreciation by writer, editor and film historian Michael Brooke Featurettes: Birth of a Film Legend; Zeman and the World; Why Zeman Made the Rim; Zeman's Special Effects; and more!
BBFC:
Release Date:
24/07/2017
Run Time:
85 minutes
Languages:
Czech LPCM Mono
Subtitles:
English
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.37:1
Colour:
Colour
BLU-RAY Regions:
(0) All
Bonus:
  • Film Adventurer Karel Zeman: the acclaimed documentary with Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton and others (2015 / 102 min)
  • New, exclusive and expansive filmed appreciation by writer, editor and film historian Michael Brooke Featurettes:
  • Birth of a Film Legend; Zeman and the World; Why Zeman Made the Rim; Zeman's Special Effects; and more!

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Reviews (2) of The Fabulous Baron Munchausen

A magical, delightful surprise - The Fabulous Baron Munchausen review by RJ

Spoiler Alert
06/01/2020

I only recently discovered the films of Karel Zeman - this is the second I have seen following 'Journey to the Beginning of Time'. If the most obvious comparison (albeit only superficial) to that film was the work of Ray Harryhausen, Munchausen is much more in the mould of Georges Méliès. It combines animation and live action to tell the fantastical tale of Baron Munchausen's adventures with 'Tony', an astronaut from Earth who Munchausen mistakenly assumes to be a native 'Moonman' (understandably, given that they meet on the moon, where Munchausen happens to be dining with characters from Jules Verne's 'From the Earth to the Moon' as well as 17th Century French poet Cyrano de Bergerac). The early scenes on the moon immediately recall Méliès' 'Le Voyage dans la Lune'.

Munchausen takes Tony back to what I would confidently describe as 'olden-days' Turkey (Wikipedia tells me it's 18th Century). The ironic joke running through the film is that although Munchausen believes himself to be a great hero, it is the unassuming Tony who almost unwittingly takes on that role, rescuing the damsel in distress Princess Bianca from the clutches of the sultan. The more serious theme of the film is the ability of science to put the imagination of man into practice. Munchausen (and his moon-based associate Cyrano de Bergerac) inhabit the world of poetry and fantasy, where the notion of the moon is pure imagination. During the course of the film the baton is essentially passed from these figures to Tony, who represents science and the ability to make these dreams real. Man first set foot on the moon at the end of the decade this film was made in.

The combination of live action and animation is really delightful and it has a great score/soundtrack (there were parts of it that reminded me of the score Air made for 'Le Voyage dans la Lune' a few years ago - I don't know if this is coincidence or whether they drew on this soundtrack for inspiration). It's also genuinely funny throughout and brilliantly performed by the whole cast.

2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.

A Whale of a Time - The Fabulous Baron Munchausen review by CH

Spoiler Alert
16/10/2023

This is another highly enjoyable one by Zeman, even if it is slightly too long and is more a series of imaginative vignettes than an overarching narrative. Magical, the way in which film and animation combine. There is nothing to match this. Watch it to savour the heading I have given this review.

0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.

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